Property taxes along Atlanta's proposed Beltline -- a 22-mile loop of park and trails ringing downtown -- are rising sharply, threatening to displace the poor that live in adjacent areas.
"A new study by a nonprofit housing group claims that land values are rising so quickly around Atlanta's proposed Beltline that the resulting property-tax increases threaten to drive thousands of poor people from their homes."
"If the city does not set up tax breaks and other incentives to help low-income homeowners keep their houses, the proposed 22-mile loop of park and trails ringing downtown will create a circle of wealth and an outer ring of concentrated poverty, warns the Georgia Tech professor who conducted the analysis."
"'The Beltline is a great idea - unless we're going to build it on the backs of poor folks,' said Dan Immergluck, an expert on real estate and community development. 'If it's just going to be for one income, higher incomes and people with shiny new homes, from a public policy perspective, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense.'"
"Immergluck's analysis of six years of housing data show a hyper-gentrification and property speculation around the proposed Beltline, as large developers and smaller speculators have bought up property."
Thanks to A. Lamar Calloway
FULL STORY: Beltline property taxes afire, study says
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
How California Transit Agencies are Addressing Rider Harassment
Safety and harassment are commonly cited reasons passengers, particularly women and girls, avoid public transit.
Significant Investments Needed to Protect LA County Residents From Climate Hazards
A new study estimates that LA County must invest billions of dollars before 2040 to protect residents from extreme heat, increasing precipitation, worsening wildfires, rising sea levels, and climate-induced public health threats.
Federal Rule Raises Cost for Oil and Gas Extraction on Public Lands
An update to federal regulations raises minimum bonding to limit orphaned wells and ensure cleanup costs are covered — but it still may not be enough to mitigate the damages caused by oil and gas drilling.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.